Author: Mahdeehassan

Luxury residential and hospitality developer Seven Tides has signed a strategic hotel management agreement with Minor Hotels as the new operator of its five-star DUKES The Palm, a Royal Hideaway Hotel, which is located on the west trunk of Palm Jumeirah, effective from 1st August 2025. “This is a strategic appointment as Minor Hotels already successfully manages our existing asset, the neighbouring NH Collection Dubai The Palm, and the agreement will provide enhanced synergy between the hotels,” said Abdulla Bin Sulayem, CEO, Seven Tides. “Furthermore, the proven track record of Minor Hotels in delivering elevated guest experiences, combined with their operational expertise makes…

PUMA Middle East spotlights a lineup of trailblazing regional talents repping the Mostroverse — a bold, stylized universe inspired by the iconic Mostro sneaker. Mostro is making its modern-day comeback with the region’s most forward-thinking creators. From musicians and DJs to photographers and stylists, PUMA’s latest campaign was inspired by those who dare to be bold – the defining characteristic of the Mostro shoe. The Mostroverse was curated with a clear creative direction in mind – spotlighting groundbreakers. Shot and directed by Palestinian-Jordanian photographer Omar Sha3 and produced by local creative collective ECHO Agency, the campaign was inspired by the underground, the avant-garde,…

The partnership brings secure, sovereign AI agents to mission-critical workflows across the UAE, KSA, and beyond Dubai, UAE – May 26, 2025 – CNTXT AI, a Data and AI enabler driving AI readiness through sovereign infrastructure and high-quality data, has signed a strategic Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Beam AI, the leading platform for AI agents. Together, the two companies will deliver secure, scalable, and localized AI agents to power operations and serve enterprise and government sectors in the Gulf. The partnership enables Beam AI to expand into the GCC through CNTXT AI’s trusted infrastructure and data services, while CNTXT…

UAE-based fintech Gainz has closed a 7-figure USD pre-seed round, structured as a mix of equity and debt The round was led by Antler MENAP, Lithium Holdings, and Eleventh Invest Inc., with participation from a diverse network of regional high-net-worth investors. The funding reflects growing investor confidence in the founding team’s track record and in the $200B+ financing gap facing SMEs in the region. Founded in December 2024 by Shehab Mokhtar and Sherif Abdelaty, Gainz aims to democratise working capital financing by enabling individuals to invest in vetted SMEs through an AI-powered, Shariah-compliant crowdfunding platform. The new funding will support platform…

viAct, a Hong Kong-based AI company, has raised $7.3 million in a Series A round led by Ireland’s VentureWave Capital, with participation from Singtel Innov8 and Korean Investment Partners. The company plans to expand aggressively in the Middle East, particularly Saudi Arabia, to support its booming construction and energy sectors with AI-driven safety and productivity solutions. Founded in 2016, viAct serves over 200 contractors globally with its AI-powered platform for real-time risk detection, predictive analytics, and automated compliance. Its solution has helped companies prevent thousands of incidents while improving project timelines, operational efficiency, and profitability across sectors including construction, oil…

UAE-based tech startup Tarjama has closed a $15 million a Series A funding round, led by Global Ventures, with participation from Wamda Capital, TA Ventures, Phaze Capital, Golden Gate Ventures, and Endeavor Catalyst. Founded in 2009 by Nour Al Hassan, Tarjama offers advanced language technology solutions across 50+ languages and 22 Arabic dialects, serving over 700 clients globally. The company recently launched Pronoia V2, a purpose-built Arabic-first LLM that outperforms GPT-4o and Cohere on Arabic tasks. The funding will be used to scale Arabic.AI, Tarjama’s proprietary agentic AI ecosystem built specifically for enterprise applications in Arabic-speaking markets. The company plans to expand its engineering…

Abu Dhabi-based EQIQ, a venture capital fund and venture builder focused on Iraq, is doubling its fund size from $15 million to $30 million to deepen its investments in Iraq’s digital economy. The fund targets greenfield and brownfield ventures across e-commerce, logistics, and fintech, aiming to create a synergistic ecosystem of tech-enabled businesses that provide millions of Iraqis with localised digital solutions. Founded by Mohamed Al-Hakim and Said Rahmani, EQIQ has already deployed $8.5 million across five startups, three of which it co-built with founding teams from its network. Having completed its first close in January 2023, EQIQ is now…

Returning to Lisbon, SBC Summit will present a reimagined agenda designed to better serve a global audience, with a powerful new focus on market diversity, technological innovation, and actionable, real-world learning. Building on the success of its Lisbon debut, SBC Summit will return to the Feira Internacional de Lisboa and MEO Arena on 16–18 September 2025. The event will welcome 30,000 attendees to a six-stage, industry-wide conference agenda spanning global and emerging markets, payments, affiliation, player protection, and new hands-on ‘Operator Academy’ workshops. Familiar to last year’s attendees and bigger than ever, the Super Stage will also return to the MEO Arena to spotlight headline sessions from the industry’s biggest names;…

SARsatX, a Saudi-based space technology startup specialising in Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR), has announced the successful closure of a $2.6 million seed funding round. The investment marks a key milestone for the Kingdom’s emerging NewSpace sector and reinforces its growing presence in the global space economy. The round was led by TONOMUS, a digital subsidiary of NEOM, with participation from Wa’ed Ventures (the venture capital arm of Aramco), Access Bridge Ventures, and KAUST Innovation Ventures. SARsatX previously received backing from Flat6Labs, a leading early-stage venture capital firm in the MENA region. Founded as a spin-off from the TAQADAM Startup Accelerator…

Ziadah, a Saudi-based e-commerce SaaS startup, has successfully closed its seed funding round from an undisclosed angel investor. The investment marks a significant step in the company’s mission to provide smart conversion and sales optimisation tools for online retailers. Founded in 2024 by entrepreneurs Ali Aldahnin and Mahmoud Omar, Ziadah enables online merchants to increase their Average Order Value (AOV) and drive revenue growth by analysing shopper behaviour and integrating directly with various e-commerce platforms. The platform targets users at every stage of the purchasing journey — from browsing products and adding items to the cart to completing the checkout…